"Big Rush"
"Big Rush"
Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott’s Big
Night and Bob Giraldi’s Dinner Rush are films that, according to Keller,
“create a similar conceptual parallel between the progressive integration of
ethnic Italians into the American mainstream and the evolution of their native
cuisine. (Keller 125)” Both films depict culinary and social change of Italian
restaurant life. There’s a want to transition from traditional Italian cuisine
to more Americanized, trendy, and mainstream cuisine.
Both
films incorporate the opposing views of family members, in similar but still
different ways. In Big Night, we the story of two brothers and
restaurant owners, Primo and Secondo. Primo is the older brother who wants to keep
the Italian tradition of food alive, while Secondo is ready for “Paradise” to
transition to, serving Italian American food. While in Dinner Rush the
opposing views are created by father and son. We are seeing generational
conflict. We have Udo (the son), who is beginning to fill “Gigino” with
creative dishes that are steering away from Italian tradition. Then we have Louis
(the father), who wants his son to change the menu back to simple, elegant
Italian food that is “nourishing, traditional, substantial, something that
taste good, and that smells good.”
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| Udo and Louis (Dinner Rush) |
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| Primo and Secondo (Big Night) |
Big
Night and Dinner Rush include these two ideas of art and business.
This relates to the idea of the preparation of food TO art and business. They are
approached in different ways though. In Big Night, one brother is all
about art, while the other is about business when it comes to their restaurant.
Primo is about the art of the restaurant, the art of the food, and money is not
central to him, as he is a traditionalist. Secondo is more about increasing the
business of their restaurant so that they can be successful in America, looking
for those opportunities that are supposed to come with being in this “paradise”.
He is trying to combine the two cultures. Their personalities clash. In Dinner
Rush, art and business are embedded in one character. Udo is both an artist
and a businessman. He has a menu full of unique creations and creates dishes
that take on an art form. He also is strategic in his menu. He knows what
dishes will attract critics and guests, and it shows with how packed the
restaurant is. Udo’s food is attracting guests and keeps them coming. This is
where we see a difference between Primo and Udo. Primo is always going to
prepare the traditional Italian dishes, while Udo really never will do that
completely. That is not the direction that he is taking, he is taking the
direction that is going to bring success to the restaurant.
The
atmosphere in each of the films are different, they are almost opposites. The
atmosphere presented in Big Night is a restaurant where the crew only
consists of Primo, Secondo, and Cristiano. “Paradise” does not really get any
business, it is slow-paced and a quiet environment, until the dinner party. But
when it comes to Dinner Rush, the atmosphere of the restaurant is
super-fast paced. Everyone moves quickly throughout the restaurant. There is an
entire kitchen staff, as well as an entire waitstaff and front house crew that
is shown. We see an atmosphere that is depicted to be busy and popular.
I
enjoyed both films, but there is one that I liked more than the other, and that
is Dinner Rush. As I was watching, I was able to notice parts of the
movie that I could relate to when it came to the depiction of the restaurant,
seeing as though I was a server for a long period of time in an Italian
restaurant. I was able to relate to how fast-paced and busy the environment was,
I was able to relate to serving needy and complaining guests like Fitzgerald,
and I was able to relate to the creativity of the dishes. My kitchen/back of
the house crew were always coming up with and creating new and interesting
dishes that tested and explored people’s palette. I also loved how the film
kept me on my toes. We were in this one setting for majority of the film, but I
felt like I never knew exactly what was going to happen. The ending definitely
proved this. I loved that twist of how John Corbett’s character who we only saw
at the bar at the entire night, ended up being a hitman. Throughout the movie I
was trying to figure out what his characters purpose was but would have never
guessed that that was what it was going to be. The suspense, the twists, the
restaurant life depiction and how the film flowed kept me super engaged and
entertained the entire way through.
Sources:
Keller, James R. Food, Film, and Culture. A Genre Study. McFarland, 2006.
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